Marine engine skeg-boot, protection, absorption, permanent conversion and horizontal lift wing component

ABSTRACT

A marine engine lower unit which contains the gear housing and skeg blade is exposed to damage below the water line due to structures striking the skeg. The Skeg-Boot is a component that totally encapsulates the skeg blade unit from the lower gear housing to the lower edge on the existing skeg unit. The component is a permanent preventative, permanent repair device and a component that enhances control performance and the aesthetic appearance of the marine engine. It has the capabilities of fitting a majority of marine engine sizes and styles. The Skeg-Boot requires no hardware fasteners to install and are not recommended for the component. The component has a dual purpose of also fitting on the lower units horizontal planes as a lift wing device that fits both sides, left to right, to further enhance engine control and performance.

1:A I disclose prior conception of the idea of the Skeg-Boot in 1974. Copies of pictures noted numbers original tooling plug for molding shown in No. 1 photo, shows a solid component without the cavity open at the top, this component was used for making of molds to form end component.

1:B As in photo No. 2, shows a component made from the first mold. These components were not sold to the public, but used for my use in research and development towards a patent application in the future. As shown in the photo, this component did not fit in the close tolerance against the gear housing as I desired and was larger in size as I desired

1:C The component as described and shown was not the fine tuned and tooled item I filed for. Sobe, DeMasi, Lammli and Rocka later achieved the same results I reached in the conception in 1974. I will show in the reconsideration process why I came up with a similar component that fits the needs of today and past application requirements. I note that in the photo copy No. 2 the marine engine is 2003 model and the component is of the first design and misses the forward fit, but on a 1973-1974 marine engine the component fits fine. As I was requested by the public to build this style component in 2004, I was forced to come up with a unit that would blend to the engines and not look added on.

1:D The components on today's market such as the ones as Sober, DeMasi, Lammli and Rocka describe, do not fit the marine engines contours and surfaces in a fit that appears factory installed and require secondary fasteners to assure connection to the marine engine.

1:E Pictures and attached drawing No. 3 and No. 4 show the fit of the Skeg-Boot on a newer marine engine and how the Skeg-Boot is applied as a boot over the engine's Skeg and attached on the horizontal wing of the marine engine as a horizontal lift wing, showing dual applications of the same item component.

2:2 As claims 2 and 3 are rejected, Sober describes a Skeg-Boot sized and shaped to conform to most marine engine Skegs. Sober did not discuss it as a highly acceptable fit to the engine as shown in my drawing fitting in close tolerance to the gear housing. Most marine engines have different gear housing contours below the housing in which they flow in to the Skeg blade. My component forms over the Skeg and continues upward against the lower gear housing without looking as a add on component as desired in the market. As described by Sober, his plane is below the bottom of Skeg as a stabilizing device to hold the sides of his component and as a defection device for impacts. My horizontal lift wing function attaches to above the gear housing on the horizontal planes as I noted in the title using the words “And Horizontal Lift Wing Component” not as attached to the engines Skeg unit, but the same Skeg-Boot has a dual purpose component use as noted in attached new drawings and photos.

As described the component I claimed has a sacrifical bumper at its lower plane, the device is shaped and shown in the drawing with no sharp edges, not to harm marine life and to wear away also if impacted on hard objects or accidental dragging. As described the main purpose of the component is to act as an absorption device not as a rigid unit over an existing Skeg which such rigid units do not allow for proper protection except as a appearance device and if the unit is installed with fasteners, holes must be drilled leaving weakened break off points in the Skeg. Sober describes the use of a bonding material such as epoxy, which has excellent bonding abilities, but forms a solid rigid fill, not used as an absorption device between the Skeg and boot or cover. Further Sober intends mainly his unit to be used as a add on component that will appear as such in application and could be made of a plastic material if he had the ability or knowledge, but primarily pushes the metal and rigid theory which I push the theory of a vulcanizing bonding material with a flexible barrier between the Skeg and Skeg-Boot and not appearing as a add on unit.

3:4 It is obvious that Sober, Demasi, Lammli and Rocka choose as their primary structure materials as metal bases to reinforce the sub Skeg made of Aluminum which creates a solid rigid component that in theory of an unskilled person in manufacturing and a preventative protection devices maker would think that the more rigid a component is, the stronger it is. If they had chosen a plastic material as their primary material they could not achieve the same results unless they used a fiberglass base reinforced material to obtain the rigid results they were trying to achieve. When all of the inventors formulated their ideas. The plastic materials which could have filled the requirements were available on the market and widely used in the marine industry. The fiberglass reinforced plastics and other rigid plastics available at these times could have been used, but cost differences between forming metal components vs. tooling costs of molds and plastics manufacturing were and are expensive in comparison to the metal processes. The marine market also is not receptive of a plastic over a piece of metal, but in my case, researching and developing a process which does not create a rigid covering and by using a semi rigid polymer and a base adhesive that is flexible to achieve a absorption component. This theory has to convince the market that the process can be used in the place of rigid add on units. The inventors show the obvious standard material should and is preferred a rigid metal and they knew that at that time that in the future of any component that it could be produced in a version of a plastic based material and that their preferring a metal component may not be as marketable when this time comes. It could be said that any material could be used in the future to make any component and that a person having ordinary skills in the art could achieve this goal. 

1.) As a permanent component that totally encompasses a marine engine skeg unit, the Skeg-Boot is secured in position with a highly technical vulcanize adhesive filler material which fills all voids in the cavity between the marine engine skeg unit and the Skeg-Boot component to form a flexible vulcanized barrier without the use of hardware fasteners or drilling so fractures are limited as described. 2.) The Skeg-Boot will be manufactured containing a high impact polymer composite material with a singular matrix of virgin components. The material at the time is proprietary to the supplier of raw materials. 3.) The Skeg-Boot being constructed of high strength composite material also known as a polymer, is compatible with the marine engine skeg units that are manufactured generally of aluminum. When metals dissimilar to each other, including aluminum to aluminum contacts without total air evacuation, debris and salt water contamination will form corrosion or electrolysis between the units thereby weakening the structures. 4.) The Skeg-Boot is sized and shaped to conform to most marine engine skegs without the end suppliers having to stock various sizes for applications. It forms a highly acceptable fit to the marine engines without appearing as an add-on component. 5.) The Skeg-Boot is designed to fit the forward edge of the marine engine gear housing to the rear edge of the gear housing with minimal shaping for custom fits if desired. 6.) The Skeg-Boot has two structurally raised lines from front to rear on the sides of the component stopping and contouring in to both fore and aft edges. The lines are reinforcements only to prevent vertical and horizontal twisting of the underlayed marine engine skeg unit. 7.) The Skeg-Boot component is constructed of a material compound that is paintable with minimal preparation to match a marine engine color if desired. 8.) The Skeg-Boot has on its lower plane a wear bumper that is contoured in shapes with a measured amount of sacrificial material in order to soften the impact of an object and to resist scrapes and sanding in low water and accidental landings. The plane bumper is set at angles that corresponds with the trim of the engine without impacting directly at a straight horizontal plane of impact. 9.) The Skeg-Boot is intended as a preventative and absorption device. With the added performance and aesthetic enhancement qualities to be installed as a component of a new Marine engine and secondary as a permanent repair to used marine engines or a s an enhancement to used marine engines as described. 10.) The Skeg-Boot can be used as a horizontal lift wing to be attached to the marine engine lower units planes without changes in it's intended ornamental appearance or shapes, and one side fits both sides by reversing direction of application, as described. 